Rep. David Byrd, R-Waynesboro, missed the entire 2021 legislative session due to complications from COVID-19, the Tennessean reports. Byrd was diagnosed with the virus in early December and spent more than a month in the intensive care unit and weeks on a ventilator. Since then, he has been back and forth between rehab centers and hospitals. Rep. Kent Calfee, R-Kingston, announced from the House floor on April 29 that Byrd had “been in Vanderbilt about 10 days.” His absence, though rarely discussed during session, was excused, a common occurrence for legislators out with illness. Byrd has faced calls for resignation since 2018 when he was accused of sexually assaulting three women when they were underage in the 1980s. He has never publicly denied the allegations.

The TBA’s Family Law Section will host an Alimony Bench Book Roundtable on May 17 from 11 a.m. until noon CDT. The event will cover all 2021 updates and changes to the 19th edition of the publication. Speakers will include the book’s authors: Judge Mary Wagner, Kurt Myers, Amy Amundsen and Siew-Ling Shea. The roundtable is free and available to all TBA members. You can purchase the bench book or access it for free as a Family Law Section member. 

The TBA Entertainment & Sports Law Section will host its annual CLE program on May 13 from 11 a.m. until 4:45 p.m. CDT. Presenters will provide up-to-date information and inside knowledge on some of the hottest topics in the entertainment and sports industries, including: catalog sales and the related financial and ethical components that come into play on both the buyer and seller sides; sports betting in Tennessee; the new age of artist development through TikTok; and the impact of cancel culture and morality clauses when it comes to holding artists accountable for their actions. The program is virtual and attendees will be able to ask questions through Zoom’s chat feature. Read more about the program and get registered.  

Every Mother’s Day the Tennessee Justice Center honors courageous moms, foster moms, grandmothers and other caregivers. This year, the center named nine women as Tennessee Justice Center Mothers and Caregivers of the Year. Read about each of these women on the center’s website and hear from Executive Director Michele Johnson on why the organization bestows this honor each year. In other news, the center has named Tim and Amanda Smith of Caryville as its “Parents of the Year.” WATE.com has their story of fostering a medically fragile child.

Personal injury lawyers tell the Daily Memphian they have to spend millions of dollars on marketing in order to compete against one another, and fend off “bad actors” who are promising potential clients “a loan, a car, the moon and the stars.” Multiple attorneys also confirmed to the paper that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has been looking into a pattern of illegal solicitation in Shelby County by, and on behalf of, personal injury lawyers. Part of that investigation is focused on former Shelby County Assistant District Attorney Glenda Adams, who was suspected of accessing accident reports and selling information to personal injury lawyers, chiropractors and physical therapy clinics. Adams was terminated last fall. The investigation could wrap up any day. But for lawyers like Henry Reaves of the Reaves Firm, the current environment is hurting clients and the profession. Illegal solicitation is a “big piece of the market in Memphis,” Reaves says. And it's "definitely got an underbelly.” Access a pdf of the story.

The Davidson County Election Commission was scheduled to meet today to hear from its legal team on the constitutionality of a charter amendment being pushed by the anti-tax group 4 Good Government. Observers predict that the team will recommend the commission move forward with the amendment and set a date for a special election, Tennessee Lookout reports. That despite opposition to the amendment from Metro Law Director and former state attorney general Bob Cooper, who says that the language is too vaguely worded to be clearly implemented, that attempts to limit the city’s taxing powers is illegal and that the petitions themselves are legally flawed. The news source has created a primer on the issue, including background on what is being proposed, how it would affect Metro government, the looming legal battles and key players.

The Tennessee Supreme Court suspended Davidson County lawyer C. LeAnn Smith from the practice of law last Friday after finding that she was “substantially non-compliant with a Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP) monitoring agreement and her non-compliance posed a threat of substantial harm to the public.” Smith is immediately precluded from accepting any new cases, and she must cease representing existing clients by June 6.

Coffee County attorney William Lockhart has announced his campaign for 14th Judicial District Circuit Court judge, the Tullahoma News reports. Lockhart currently practices in Manchester at Burch & Lockhart. A graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, he served as Coffee County Bar Association president from 2015-2021. He also serves on the Manchester Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Lockhart is presently a candidate for the governor’s appointment to the seat being vacated by Judge L. Craig Johnson. He indicated he will run regardless of who the governor chooses.

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III is leading a coalition of 44 attorneys general urging Facebook to abandon its plans to launch a version of Instagram for children under the age of 13. In a letter to the company, the attorneys general express various concerns over Facebook’s proposal, including research that social media can be harmful to the physical, emotional and mental well-being of children; rapidly worsening concerns about cyberbullying on Instagram; use of the platform by predators to target children; Facebook’s checkered record in protecting the welfare of children on its platforms; and children’s lack of capacity to navigate the complexities of what they encounter online. They also express doubt about the company’s ability to comply with relevant privacy laws such as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

Two Memphis Police officers were legally justified in fatally shooting a Frayser man on Dec. 26, 2019, Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich said Thursday. The unidentified officers were cleared in the death of Antonio Smith Jr., which occurred during a domestic incident, Daily Memphian reports. “Based on the review and legal analysis of the TBI report, the two officers were legally justified in their use of lethal force in this case,” Weirich said. “The armed suspect, who ignored their commands to drop his weapons, clearly posed a threat of serious bodily injury to themselves and to bystanders.”